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“Hey, Emma. This is Sheila. Sully-Boy got out again. Callie is beside herself, and we’re looking for him, but I wanted to give you a heads up in case we have anemergency. Sorry to interrupt your weekend. I’ll let you know when we find him.”

“End of new messages.”

I tucked my phone back in my pocket, and the floor creaked beneath my feet as I took several steps toward his desk. “I’m going home.”

He raised his hands, almost pointing at me. “You should sleep first. Wait and decide your next steps in the morning.”

I waved him off to stop any other argument. “No, I’m going home. It’ll be hard enough to explain my abnormal behavior to my family back home.”

“Abnormal?”

“I’m always home by noon on Sunday, and I’m dependable so my mother doesn’t worry. If I’m not, I call. I didn’t call, and I didn’t show. That’s beyond abnormal for me. You have no idea how much I owe her.”

Everything.

He grunted but added nothing else.

“I love my life in Willow Creek,” I continued, “and my practice has been the most important goal in my life for the last decade.” My gaze met Logan’s over the copies of the prophecies Dr. Wise had left behind. “Mom won’t stop until I’m home, and I don’t think I want to stay. You’ve got some things to figure out, and so do I.”

At that, every drop of fight went out of him, and his shoulders drooped. He sighed. “It’s a risk.”

My keys jangled as I swiped them from Logan’s desk. “Risk is inherent in living. Every part of my life is a risk—running my own practice, camping on my own, nowthis…” I glanced around the room. “Why should this day be any different than any other day?”

Fifteen minutes later, I was in my car and headed back to Willow Creek. Logan hadn’t escorted me out, and Jasper hadn’t been anywhere in the driveway. I left alone, and I had to admit the dismissal stung.

Maybe I wanted Logan to come after me, confess he couldn’t live without me, and drag me back to his room to fuck my brains out.

But that wasn’t real life.

I should have been elated that my wishes were respected, and I was being completely irrational.

I tapped the screen in my car as I pulled to stop at the end of the long driveway off the pack’s property, selectingMomfrom the contacts. A handful of big black birds flew from the trees as the gate on the entrance swung open. The phone rang through my car’s system, and Mom picked up on the first ring.

“Emma, where have you been?” she demanded breathlessly. “They wouldn’t let me report you missing since you’re an adult. What if you’d been attacked?”

“I’m fine,” I said, biting back everything I wanted to say.

“But where have you been?”

“Enjoying my days off camping. If you’d wanted to know where I was, you can track my phone.”

“You know I don’t remember how to do that, Emma.” She sounded close to tears. “You know I worry.”

“How ‘bout I come by and see you on my way back home. Okay?”

“You don’t have anything else to say for yourself?”

“I just needed some time,” I said. Guilt rolled through me. It was all I could say, and it wasn’t a lie.

She didn’t answer for a long time, and my mind churned as she fought her desire to demand more information. I’d been the whole of her focus since Dad had passed, and normally, I didn’t mind. She wanted more, but I couldn’t give her anything else, and it ate at me as surely as the reality of what had happened to me.

How the heck was I a shifter? A mountain lion attack had turned me into a member of a secret world I didn’t feel capable of handling. Figuring out what had happened to me and establishing my memories weren’t a nightmare were necessary to me.

This time, though, I had no choice but to leave her in the dark. Shifting wasn’t something I wanted. It had been forced on me by genetics and a mountain lion attack. Until I decided what I was going to do, I couldn’t tell her anything that might put her in danger. What if I joined up with the shifters and became their prophesied whatever…

Finally, she sucked in a breath before speaking. “Okay, sweetie. Do you want me to make anything?”

“I’ll pick something up. No need to cook.”